Kanbe Kuroda
Kanbe Kuroda (sometimes spelled Kanbee Kuroda) is a character from the Sengoku BASARA series. He first appeared in Sengoku BASARA: Samurai Heroes. Biography Appearance Kanbe's attire is composed of more dismal and somber colors in contrast with the rest of the cast, using less striking and vibrant ones. This is most likely to reflect his time spent in a cell. Certain other aspects of his design show this as well, most notably the large shackle around his neck and, of course, his weapon. Kanbe has crude, unkempt black hair that he wears in a pony tail, while his fringe hides his eyes all the time. He also dons a long, tattered, beige overcoat. Story Kanbe Kuroda was a vassal of Hideyoshi Toyotomi. During this time however, he was secretly waiting for a chance to take the country himself. Due to the rebellion of Ieyasu Tokugawa, Hideyoshi was killed, and Mitsunari Ishida (another general under Hideyoshi's command) took it upon himself to chase and imprison Kanbe due to his motives. Kanbe, being noted as a top strategist, possessed a great mind, but was also cursed with horrendous bad luck. He seemed to cherish his dream and was determined to fufill it, thus, as the conflict dividing the Land drew closer, Kanbe broke out of his cell and tried to continue to make his dream come true. However, his motives are immediately found out by Yoshitsugu Otani and Motonari Mori, and he is forced to serve under them as a vassal to the Western Army, or he would be imprisoned once again. After fighting their battles for them, Kanbe flies into a fit of rage and attacks Motonari to become a free man, but with Motonari being the craftier of the two, he explains that Kanbe cannot be free until he rids himself of his shackles, telling him that Yoshitsugu holds the key on his person. With that newfound knowledge, Kanbe rushes to the battle between the Western Army and Eastern Army at Sekigahara to take back the key from Yoshitsugu, but he ends up getting caught up in the heat of the battle and ends up defeating everyone, including Yoshitsugu, Tadakatsu Honda, Ieyasu, and Mitsunari. When he is about to obtain the key, Yoshiaki Mogami's hawk swoops down and steals it from him, forcing him to live a life of bad luck for all eternity. Gameplay Weapons His weapon is a large iron ball chained to his handcuffs, and despite his hands being restricted, Kanbe is able to perform destructive grapple attacks in roughly the same manner as Cody Travers of Final Fight and Street Fighter fame. (As of Samurai Heroes) *'Steel Ball' - Kanbe's basic weapon. *'Earthen Ball' - 5% chance of extra wind based attack damage. *'Iron Ball' - BASARA gauge fills quicker than normal. Skills *'Ruffian Kick' - kicks ball while flying forward. *'Drop Kick' - jumps up and kicks ball dead ahead. *'Depression' - takes anger out on ball, creating shockwaves. (Unlocked at Level 5) *'Aggressive Behavior' - beats enemies into a pulp with ball. (Unlocked at Level 10) *'Criminal Smasher' - sends enemies into the air, then crashing down. (Unlocked at Level 20) *'Rolling Attack' - wraps around ball and rolls at lightning speeds. (Unlocked at Level 30) Historical Information Yoshitaka Kuroda (黒田孝高), whose other name was Kanbee Kuroda (also spelled as Kanbei, 黒田官兵衛), was a Japanese daimyo of the late Sengoku through early Edo periods. Yoshitaka succeeded to the family headship in 1567, the same year that he participated in the Siege of Inabayama Castle, when Nobunaga Oda defeated the Saitō clan of Mino province. A few years later, with Hideyoshi Toyotomi spearheading the Oda clan's advance into the Chugoku region, he pledged loyalty to the Oda. Yoshitaka, together with the sickly Hanbei Takenaka, served as Hideyoshi's strategists and assisted in the campaign against the Mōri clan. Shortly before 1587, Yoshitaka was ordered by Hideyoshi to lead an attack into Kyushu. Along with him was the famous Christian daimyo Ukon Takayama. After seeing the thriving Christian population of Kyushu and under Ukon's influence, Yoshitaka was baptized with the name ドン・シメオン (Don Simeon). But, when Hideyoshi made his famous edict that expelled foreign missionaries and ordered all the Christian samurai under his rule to abandon their faith, Yoshitaka gave up his new religion and adopted a monk's habit calling himself (如水) Josui. Yoshitaka made an attempt to conquer the region of Kyūshū during the Battle of Sekigahara, but this ended up in failure. After his son Nagamasa Kuroda succeeded him, Yoshitaka died in 1604. Trivia *His name in Samurai Heroes is spelled "Kanbe Kuroda". *In one of his quotes, Kanbe states that he used a sword as a weapon before his hands got handcuffed. *Starlight Starbright, the hawk that steals the key that would free him from bondage away from Kanbe, belongs to Yoshiaki Mogami. Gallery Image:Kuroda_Tsuchibayashi.png|Art by Makoto Tsuchibayashi Image:SB4_Kanbei.png|''Sengoku Basara 4'' Image:SB4_Kanbei_Alt_Costume.png|''Sengoku Basara 4'' Alternate Costume Category:Characters Category:Sengoku Basara Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Neutral